Summons for riding bike on sidewalk, thoughts?
I was coming home from a late dinner with my girlfriend friday night. She was walking, i was on my bike beside her (riding very very slowly at her pace) when a group of police officers on the corner of Nostrand and Prospect Pl. demanded i get off, offer ID, etc.
I was then promptly written a ticket without any explanation about breaking a "no bikes on sidewalks" law until after the ticket was written.
meanwhile drug deals are going on on the corners across the street. People are riding motorcycles up and down the block with no helmets.
I was one block away from my house, I asked for a warning, was polite, etc....
what are your thoughts? warranted, or a little excessive?
I was then promptly written a ticket without any explanation about breaking a "no bikes on sidewalks" law until after the ticket was written.
meanwhile drug deals are going on on the corners across the street. People are riding motorcycles up and down the block with no helmets.
I was one block away from my house, I asked for a warning, was polite, etc....
what are your thoughts? warranted, or a little excessive?
Comments
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Extremely excessive and unfortunately very common lately. Be lucky you had no outstanding tickets otherwise you would have been arrested. Sorry it happened to you.
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Skip to page 4 of this thread (Feb 22nd) for discusssion of someone else's experience and the responses we (aka "the peanut gallery") provided.
http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=55256&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=135 -
I agree with most people in that thread... good link.
It's a probably a dick move by the cop, but if you're caught, you're caught.
I occasionally ride on the sidewalk for 1/2 a block or less, usually from my front door to the curb cut next door, or at work to lock up, and I am always aware that one day a cop with nothing better to do is going to write me a ticket for riding 200 feet, slowly, on an unoccupied sidewalk.
I'm sorry to hear this happened. -
Listen dude, this is the new black. They will even give you a ticket for not having a helmet; you can get a ticket for having your bag beside you on an otherwise empty train. The city is broke, and the cops are in full effect to ticket for almost anything.
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As I've explained to my significant other, folks that look like 1) law abiding citizens who will 2)pay tickets rather than go to court are the official low hanging fruit of community policing. So while the guys are standing on the corner of Park and Nostrand executing drug deals, and the rastas are illegally squatting in a the building across the street, the police will walk past them to ticket motorists at the light with no seatbelts and cars double parking (stopping) to unload passengers and materials. I've seen both and remain amazed that the cops can actually keep a straight face while doing it.
But the fact remains its easier to write a ticket for violations on someone who doesn't look like they'll have any other warrants (ie. paperwork for police) than to stop actual FELONIES from occurring. -
Agreed homeowner. Agreed!
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cops are huge lazy assholes, they rather go after the easy stuff than the real crimes. they rather piss off the tax paying public. only reason i stop doing van deliveries is cops.
talk about lazy cops, once i was waiting for clients. i got ticketed while some gang members were dealing right in front of them LOL. -
I would recommend that you ask the police officer for his badge number and his precinct. Also, I would recommend that you don't pay the ticket and fight it to kingdom come. Tell the court that you were not on your bicycle, that you were walking it. To hell with them. Also, make a public statement about the chaos the cops ignore to give you a bullshit ticket just so that they can make quota.
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U got caught bro
Have to think whether a day in court is worth your time -
Don't do the crime, if you can't do the time.
As mentioned, its 1. Money Grab 2. Ghetto Census.
These types of offenses don't get counted in crime stats.
Drug dealing et al does.
Gotta keep those numbers low.
Reference the excellent series in the village voice, the police tapes.
You get the big picture when your done.
If this is your first summons and have a clean record, they will offer you an ACD. Otherwise you get fine. If you want to fight it, be prepared to spend all day and then some in court. On your appearance date, get there early to get a good spot on line.
Welcome to Amerikkka -
this is total bullshit. cops should be embarrassed.
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As we learned from The Village Voice in Rayman's "The NYPD Tapes: Inside Bed-Stuy's 81st Precinct", it's all about the numbers baby (http://www.villagevoice.com/2010-05-04/news/the-nypd-tapes-inside-bed-stuy-s-81st-precinct/).
New York City Administrative Code 19-176: Bicycle operation on sidewalks prohibited.
b. No person shall ride a bicycle upon any sidewalk unless permitted
by an official sign. A person who violates this subdivision may be
issued a notice of violation and shall be liable for a civil penalty of
not more than one hundred dollars which may be recovered in a proceeding
before the environmental control board.
Tickets for riding on the sidewalk fall under the jurisdiction of the Environmental Control Board (ECB). If you are given a ticket or summons that requires you to appear in criminal court instead, you might be able to get the ticket thrown out for lack of jurisdiction.
Also, take a look at the New York City Traffic Rules. Another approach might be to make the case that cycling on the sidewalk was reasonably necessary to avoid conditions that would have made it unsafe to continue within a designated bicycle path or lane.
This happened to me in Bed-Stuy a couple of years ago. I went to court, looked professional, and laughed at all the judge's jokes. He through the case out before I even had the chance to speak. That said, I'm also a white lady under the age of 25, who at the time was new to the city and had never had any prior encounters with the po-po (not even a traffic ticket!). -
Figured I may as well chime in here and I love all the positive feedback and Armchair your choice of words was quite eloquent. Now as for the summons, you admitted that you were riding your bike on the sidewalk so I don't really know what your defense would be. This discussion reminds me of when the underpriveledged whiteboy got a summons for drinking a beer on the roof resulting in his panties getting in a knot.
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okay fine not all cops are lazy assholes
. just some jerk offs who make all hard working cops look bad too.
I just got sick of the lazy useless ones. -
That is completely ridiculous, and you should be outraged. What a waste of our city resources. Sometimes I wonder why I even pay taxes....
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If you're over 12 years old you're too old to ride on the sidewalk. Too bad about the summons, but you should know better (and you should be ashamed of yourself for such dumb anti-social behavior).
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Riding a bike on the sidewalk is dangerous, riding a bike in the street is dangerous, riding a bike period is dangerous. However, sidewalks are for pedestrians and Nostrand ave is quite congested and really isn't a place for bicyclists. The whole discretion thing is another argument and Police Officers aren't required to excercise it. With all the illegal activity on Nostrand and Franklin ave theres gonna be little tolerance especially with a new batch of Cops assigned to the Precinct hittin da streets!
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come on people he wasn't speeding down the sidewalk, was he? He was riding alongside some girl. But accepting that there are instances where it can be dangerous and thus shouldn't be practice, why didn't the cops simply warn him, wouldn't that have been enough? Why do they need to clog up our courts with this nonsense. Silliness.
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I agree that the summons was overkill but an adult riding a bike on the sidewalk is telling the world that it's a toy, rather than a serious means of transport. [And, of course, it's also dangerous--I've come close several times to being hit by a**hole cyclists riding on the sidewalk] The OP should have had enough sense to be ashamed of himself instead of complaining here.
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The speed at which one rides a bicycle on the sidewalk isn't really a valid argument, thats like saying if a guy drives his car along the sidewalk thats OK too as long as he drives slow?
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Sorry to hear it happened to you -- but I'm glad the police are going after bikes on the sidewalk. I HATE that when walking on the sidewalk I have to jump out of the way for people on bikes. I know you say you were going the pace of someone walking, but you're still making someone else move out of your way. Just follow the rules! (also...riding the slowly is tough. wouldn't it have been easier to just walk the bike anyway?)
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independent mind wrote: come on people he wasn't speeding down the sidewalk, was he? He was riding alongside some girl. But accepting that there are instances where it can be dangerous and thus shouldn't be practice, why didn't the cops simply warn him, wouldn't that have been enough? Why do they need to clog up our courts with this nonsense. Silliness.
The law is the law. It's a dumb law, but it's the law. If dude has a prob with that he should take it up with his local rep or w/e, not the cops -
Gotta side with KWAC here. I was stopped for riding on the sidewalk a while back and thankfully got let off with a warning. Meanwhile my roomate and a coworker were stopped and given tickets within days of each other. I got lucky. Just because a law is seldom enforced doesn't mean you get to bellyache about it when it does. You know it's wrong. You should also know that this is one of the things the rookie cops are being told to go after.
I'm more interested in KWAC's take on discretion. Sure you can ticket someone for this, but it's hard to swallow when there's other blatant crimes going on nearby in broad daylight. -
Subject: Re: Summons for riding bike on sidewalk, thoughts?
wonderchimp5 wrote: I was coming home from a late dinner with my girlfriend friday night. She was walking, i was on my bike beside her (riding very very slowly at her pace) when a group of police officers on the corner of Nostrand and Prospect Pl. demanded i get off, offer ID, etc.
Do you think Police don't Arrest drug dealers? I find it funny that when someone gets caught breaking the Law they're often quick to point out that someone else is also breaking the Law too. Police enforce all Laws, so what might seem like a minor offense to you, actually is quite big to some.
I was then promptly written a ticket without any explanation about breaking a "no bikes on sidewalks" law until after the ticket was written.
meanwhile drug deals are going on on the corners across the street. People are riding motorcycles up and down the block with no helmets.
I was one block away from my house, I asked for a warning, was polite, etc....
what are your thoughts? warranted, or a little excessive? -
And with that, I am no longer Bruce Ratners Love Child and am now a Ninja.
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The irony of this is the little 7-8 year old boy who has almost run me over twice on that corner on his pocket rocket which he rides on the sidewalk of Park and around the corner up Nostrand with impunity.
He, however, does wear a helmet when he rides. -
ah, don't forget about the guys I still see occasionally on Pacific between Franklin and Ralph on ATVs.
http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&source=imghp&q=atvs&gbv=2&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=
(I admit, they are not on the sidewalk. They are on the street) -
I guess everybody forgot about the "bicycle bandit" that just a few months ago was stealing phones right out of peoples hands while he rode down the sidewalk. I guess it would be okay for the officers to write a summons to somebody who "looks" like he might be about to committ a crime but not to somebody who looks "innocent".
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Wow, in fact, now I recall that last summer--in fact it was the reason i signed on to brooklynian--I saw a lady get mugged by a dude on a bicycle right in front of me. Right in front of BMA--I wonder if this is why they enforce ticketing so heavily in this area. Maybe its a tactic that if they cast a wide enough net they will eventually catch the thieves. Hadn't thought of that.
But, for the record, there are people who really have no idea it is illegal to ride on the sidewalk--I didn't know that until a year ago. And it would have completely sucked to have found out by a ticket.
IN fact--is it illegal in all cities, or just nyc? Does anyone know? -
Cool The Kid wrote: U got caught bro
How profound.Cool The Kid wrote:
That's the whole point of a summons, and why it's more irritating than a ticket. You HAVE to go to court.
Have to think whether a day in court is worth your time
On the bright side, there's a good chance the case will be dismissed before you even see a judge, as happened to me.
Basically, the whole thing is bullshit, nothing more than police harassment, and the courts know it. Out of the whole line of people I was standing in while waiting for my hearing, most of them were simply informed that the cases were dismissed upon judicial review. No reason was provided.
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